Planning

The NY/NJ Harbor Operation Support System

The New Jersey Department of Transportations Office of Maritime Resources (NJDOT/OMR) is working with
Stevens, the Harbor, Safety, Navigation and Operations, Committee,
the United States Coast Guard Activities New York, the Safe Wakes
Coalition and other entities in the Harbor to address the wake issue
from both the water side and the land side. It has become
clear that there is no single solution to the problems faced by
the various user groups in the Harbor. Ferry operators are modifying
their routes, and New York Waterway and New York Water Taxi have
installed GPS-based systems that will enable route and speed control.

More attention needs to
be paid to the land side of the issue, including the development
of appropriate wave barrier designs and associated permitting regulations
to enable the creation of fully-protected marina areas on both sides
of the Hudson – an absolutely essential step if recreational boating
is to achieve its full potential in the metropolitan region. Public
outreach and education are also critically important to success.

The Harbor will never
be a wake-free environment. It is the host of one of the most important
commercial ports in the world; Vessel traffic of all forms will
continue to increase. A multi-faceted approach to the wake
issue is necessary to ensure that this continued growth in the recreational
and commercial use of the waterway will not come at the expense
of either boater safety or the safe and efficient transit of cargo
and passengers.

The New York/New Jersey
Harbor Operations Support System (HOSS) implements a comprehensive
approach to Harbor management. HOSS will build
on a recently-initiated Stevens project – sponsored by the U.S.
Navy for the purposes of port security and environmental monitoring
– that will include the deployment of permanent wave and current
sensors in the Harbor.

HOSS will combine existing
and new observing, and forecasting systems to provide: